The Waterloo Festival is an annual summer festival of arts and inspiration, held in and around St John’s Waterloo. It celebrates arts, music, ideas and new talent in a beautiful setting in the beating heart of London.
The London Group is presenting three exhibitions as part of the Waterloo Festival:
An Exhibition of the Artists’ Moving Image that responds to the Waterloo Festival’s theme Transforming Minds. It takes its inspiration from Ken Russell’s 1980’s science fiction film, Altered States. The 16 works, which will be on display in the historic crypt of St John’s Waterloo, will explore altered states in a variety of contexts, from perceptual, psychological and philosophical to societal, technological and geographical.
The show is curated by The London Group members David Theobald and Nicola Schauerman (Genetic Moo).
Exhibiting artists include Bryan Benge, Sandra Crisp, Eric Fong, Ingerlise Hansen, Genetic Moo, David Theobald, Charlie Tweed and Alan Warburton.
11-18th June
St John’s Crypt, Waterloo Road, London SE1 8TY
Free
Beyond Image: The Permanent Revolution
What is in front of us has as many interpretations as there are viewers. The inherent ambiguity is a challenge and opportunity to engage in a shifting dialogue for both artist and public. Revolution or renewal is a transforming of the idea at the heart of all life.
The artists involved in this show at Waterloo’s Cello Factory will be exploring the proposition of looking beyond the physical appearance of the art through their own individual use of various media. The show, curated by artist and London Group member Tom Scase, features sculpture, film, painting, performance and installations.
The artists include Anita Bryan, Clive Burton, Tricia Gillman, Marenka Gabeler, Martin Heron, Gill Ingham, Claire Parish, Tom Scase and Tommy Seaward.
11-23 June
Daily, 2-6pm
The Cello Factory, 33-34 Cornwall Road, London SE1 8TJ
Free
Panel discussion: Is Art Transformative? 18 June at 6.30pm (register on Waterloo Festival website). Free
Nothing Endures but Change: Ephemeral Sculpture
The London Group & Friends
Visitors to St John’s churchyard this June are invited to forget the hubbub of Waterloo and relax, slow down and contemplate ephemeral, site-specific sculptures by over 30 artists.
Responding to the festival theme of ‘Transforming Minds’, the exhibition title, Nothing Endures but Change comes from Heraclitus, better known for saying, ‘you cannot step into the same river twice’. Impermanence is a basic tenet of Buddhism. Buddhism and Hinduism share the doctrine that nothing lasts, everything is in a constant state of change.
Most of the sculptures in the show are ephemeral in the way they are made and they are also about change, transformation and the ephemeral – impermanent, transitory, short-lived, temporary. The artists’ wide-ranging approaches are intriguing and highly original. At one end of the timescale, the gradual adaptations of evolution, a suspended work draws on Darwin’s visit to the Galapagos. At the other, a sculpture encrusted with old clocks and watches refers to the seconds mercilessly ticking by.
‘…flow-everlasting…’ is a work inspired by the ‘self-re-circling dream-wake book’, Finnegan’s Wake and a large house sparrow created from wild bird seed highlights the sparrows’ devastating decline since the 1970s. A structure echoing the Jewish ‘chuppah’, the canopy used in wedding ceremonies, is made of a delicate fabric into which pieces of a baby’s dress are sewn, reminding us of past stages in our lives.
There will be a paper hammock that offers no rest and an enigmatic tent that offers no shelter ‘yet whose beacon light within calls to the weary’, made with the Waterloo homeless in mind. We hope that there will be something for everyone and that all who visit find a measure tranquillity and food for thought.
Curated by London Group President Susan Haire
Each work will have a QR code giving visitors further information on the piece and/or background information on the artist.
The artists include:
Sophie Alston, Wendy Anderson LG, Peter Avery, Keith Ball, Vanya Balogh, Rosalind Barker, Alison Berry, Clive Burton LG, Andrea Cavallari, Rebecca Feiner, Cadi Froehlich LG, Mandee Gage, Ann Grim’, Susan Haire PLG, Alexandra Harley LG, Katie Hayward, Aude Hérail Jäger LG, Martin Heron LG, Alexander Hinks, Vera Jefferson, Marilyn Kyle, Chris Marshall, Venetia Nevill, Sarah Pager, Janet Patterson LG, Michael Phillipson LG, David Redfern LG, James Roseveare, Tommy Seaward LGL, Chris Simpson, Angela Carol Stocker, Franny Swann, Almuth Tebbenhoff LG, Paul Tecklenberg LG, Graham Tunnadine, Bill Watson LG, Tisna Westerhof LG and Angela Wright.
June 7th – 24th 2018
St John’s Churchyard, Waterloo Road, London SE1 8TY
daily, 9am-8pm
Free
Sat June 9th, 2pm: Art Trail, exploring the sculptures with the artists
Last Human Inutero – A 10 minute Art Performance by Ann Grim
This artwork questions the future of the human ability to reproduce and survive. It challenges the evolution of augmented humankind wishing to access eternity.
6 June at 7pm
11 June at 7pm
18th June 6.15pm (before Panel Discussion in The Cello Factory)
All events free
The London Group, one of the longest-running and most prestigious artists’ collectives in the world, has around 90 members and champions diversity of work and independent thinking. Celebrating its centenary in 2013 its illustrious history mirrored that of British art for much of the 20th century and today the Group is as strong as ever, with nine shows this year alone.
| Duration | 07 June 2018 - 24 June 2018 |
| Times | see website for details |
| Cost | Free |
| Venue | in and around St John's Waterloo |
| Address | Waterloo Road London SE1 8TY, , |
| Contact | / festival@stjohnswaterloo.org / https://www.waterloofestival.com/ |